Thread by @johannhari101

This is my first time looking at Twitter in a year. The world is full of joyful & meaningful things to do. Talk to people; read books; walk in nature; dance. Twitter is not one of those things. It coarsens & degrades everyone who heavily uses it. Spend your one precious life well

The 4 mental states that Twitter most often stirs in its users are sarcasm, exasperation, contempt, and rage. We all have those feelings sometimes, & in small doses they can be healthy - but they are psychologically disastrous modes to live in over the longer term.

Healthy modes to live in are: curiosity, openness, compassion. Build your life around encouraging these states as much as possible. To do that, you need to take yourself off Twitter, a site that systematically smothers them

We live in a culture that is constantly trying to get us to be outraged about trivial things. Part of retaining your judgement & sanity is resisting this trend. Don’t atrophy your life getting angry about trivia & nonsense

Even when it comes to things that should make us all angry, Twitter is not a place where that anger can be marshalled into meaningful change. Don't express it here

If you spend your time sending in-group signals on social media, you’ll be unfulfilled, because it’s a brittle & hollow form of belonging. Ask yourself: what healthy forms of belonging could I build into my life? How can I pursue them instead of this poisoned Twitter signalling?

My friend @jonhaidt says that many of the mental habits encouraged by Twitter are a form of “anti- cognitive therapy”: catastrophising, hysteria, mocking of all real world solutions. It makes people more anxious & distressed, & cuts them off from solutions

In my book ‘Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention’ I write about all sorts of strategies for how to stay off social media - both individual, and societal. I strongly recommend buying a k-safe (google it) and downloading Freedom onto your phone & laptop as 1st steps

If you dislike Elon Musk and his values, don’t spend your life dancing to the tune of his shitty algorithms. There’s a gorgeous world beyond Twitter. Tweet much, much, much less

I have been off the grid in rural Jamaica since November, but you don't have to take such drastic steps. Even building up small periods offline - choosing a better life -  will improve your attention and intelligence.

For these reasons, I won’t be Tweeting this year except to announce my new book in May. I hope you won’t see that tweet, because you’ll find better ways to live! Whoever you are, you deserve attention focus, deep thought, connection. You can find them - far from Twitter ❤️